Friday, April 27, 2007

Betta was baptized awhile ago...March 3. We asked good friends of ours, John and Nicole Freeman, to be godparents to Elizabeth Claire. I don't have too many photos, but here is one that shows off the gorgeous baptism gown.My mother in law made the gown from my wedding dress. There is also a matching bonnet to go with the coat and gown.

The baptism was lovely. Many good friends and family came. We enjoyed having everyone. I really love baptisms. I love welcoming a new member into the Body of Christ; I love that the little one is now free from the stain of original sin; I love having a living saint in my house.

He continues, " You've been pregnant for the last two years, you know. Everytime you've been in, it's been for an emergency, so we've taken precautions and only taken a limited x-ray just to get a picture of the bad tooth. You've got a lot of old fillings and dental work. Some of it will need to be replaced, I'm sure. I want to see what I'm dealing with and devise a plan for treatment."

We get the full set of x-rays, and the visit progresses. They pop out the temporary crowns and put in the new ones. They also do a quick cleaning. No fuss, no muss.

Then we're almost done. The dentist shows me my x-rays.

"You see in these pictures you have a lot of old fillings. They look good, they'll hold up. We don't need to worry about them cracking or breaking until next year when your insurance will cover the work again. But look here..."

He points to the tooth that is sitting directly underneath the tooth that started this whole mess.

"You see this filling right? Underneath it is all cloudy. That's a cavity. I'm surpised you're not in pain right now. That will need a root canal, but because it is so deep and close to the jaw bone, the gum will need minor surgery to push it away so that the crown will cover the whole area and keep your tooth intact and your jaw safe from infection. You're young, so I would have to leave it untreated and have to pull the tooth. Then we're talking bridge-work."

He tells me a few more things about how long we could hold off on treating it and why that might not be a good idea; a good person to do the work. I'm sure I asked a few other questions but that's lost in thinking about what an out-of-pocket root canal and crown would cost.

The epic of the styrofoam teeth isn't over yet. We'll need to figure out the best way and time to treat this last tooth. After this, I think I'm going wood. All hardwood teeth throughout a la George Washington.

Went to the dentist. He did an Xray to make sure the treated tooth looked fine and could be crowned. The teeth right next to it also needed work. One needed a filling, the other also needed a crown. If this was a retail store, I'd be thrilled, go in for one crown, come out with two!

He took several molds of my teeth to make sure the temporary crowns (we're talking in plurals now) would fit. He applied the temporary crowns. He took several more molds of my teeth to make sure the permanent crowns would fit. None of this hurt, it just took time.

Then he puts in the new filling. The drill is the worst. The absolute worst. My root canal didn't bother me but the quick little filling did. I cannot abide the drill.

I must stay, my dentist is very good about being as gentle and as thorough as possible. He spent a lot of time to make sure the bite was good for the temp. crowns and filling.

The two crowns and fillings hit the cap on my dental insurance for the year. Everything else is out of pocket.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Always one thing coming right on the heels of another around here these days. I have several things to post about, both big and small, but never feel like I have the time to devote to it. So I'll do a quick small thing.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Little Blog oh how I neglect you. I must go on retreat this weekend and there are so many things to do to get ready. When I come back feeling restored I promise to sit down with you and tell you about so many of the interesting things happening here. I promise I haven't forgotten you little blog.